Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Special Report

U.S. Department of Transportation

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

March 2009

Maritime Vessels Carry More Than Half of Growing 

U.S.-East Africa Trade

by Steven Beningo

SR-013

Trade between the United States and East African countries (defi ned in this special report as Burundi, Kenya, 

Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda) has grown substantially 

in recent years, reaching $1.3 billion in value in 2007. 

Between 1997 and 2007, U.S. exports to East Africa increased at an average annual rate of 9.1 percent per year, 

while imports grew by 7.7 percent. 

In 2007, 57 percent of U.S. trade with East Africa took 

place via seagoing vessel, and 22 percent by air. Trade by 

air has increased slightly faster than vessel trade, at average annual rates of 9.3 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively.

The remaining 21 percent of U.S. trade with East Africa was classifi ed by the U.S. Census Bureau as being 

transported via “other” modes. The exports in the “other” 

category consisted mostly of U.S. shipments of airplanes 

to Kenya. These shipments cannot be classifi ed as trade 

by air because the aircraft itself was the commodity being 

shipped, as opposed to being the vehicle that transports 

commodities. 

Trade by East African Country

U.S. trade with East Africa amounts to less than 0.04 

percent of the total U.S. international trade of $3.1 trillion. 

Unlike most U.S. trading relationships, in recent years the 

United States has maintained a trade surplus with East 

Africa (more exports than imports). Of the $1.3 billion in 

2007 U.S.-East Africa trade, U.S. exports accounted for 

$862 million (68 percent), while U.S. imports totaled $412 

million (32 percent).

Figure 1: U.S.-East Africa Trade by 

Trading Partner, 2007 (millions of U.S. dollars)

SOURCE: United States International Trade Commission Interactive Tariff 

and Trade Dataweb at http://dataweb.usitc.gov/ , December 2008.
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Of the fi ve East African countries, Kenya was the largest 

trading partner of the United States. Figure 1 shows the 

percentage of U.S. trade with each East African country in 

2007, and the growth of that trade since 1997.

The $910 million in merchandise the United States traded 

with Kenya in 2007 accounted for 71 percent of total U.S. 

trade with East Africa—more than twice the combined total 

of the other four countries. From 1997 to 2007, the average 

annual growth rates of U.S. trade with Kenya and Tanzania 

were greater than the growth rate for U.S.-Uganda trade 

(fi gure 2).

Burundi and Rwanda, the two smallest countries in terms of 

trade, gross domestic product, population, and area among 

the fi ve East African nations, had substantial drops in U.S. 

trade from 1997 to 2007. Both Burundi and Rwanda experienced trade disruptions during much of this period, but have 

seen some growth in trade with the United States since 

hitting decade lows in 2002 and 2003, respectively (fi gure 

3). U.S. trade with Burundi has seen a major shift in the 

last decade. In 1997, only 4 percent of the value of all U.S. 

trade with Burundi ($0.5 million) consisted of U.S. exports. 

However, by 2007, U.S. exports of products to Burundi 

accounted for 86 percent ($6.9 million) of all U.S.-Burundi 

trade.

Growth in Maritime Trade by U.S. Region

In 2007, East African nations traded $723 million worth of 

goods with the United States via vessel. Slightly more of 

this vessel trade consisted of export trade ($376 million) 

than import trade ($347 million). The value of vessel trade 

increased 112 percent between 1997 and 2007. 

Ports in the Northeast, Southeast, and Gulf Coast regions of 

the United States were the entry or exit points for 85 percent 

of U.S. trade with East Africa by vessel (fi gure 4). This 

refl ects the dominance of the trans-Atlantic shipping routes 

favored by companies that trade by vessel between North 

America and East Africa. 

See box A for a defi nition of the states comprising each of 

the U.S. regions in this report.

Figure 2: Dollar Value of U.S. Trade with 

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, 1997-2007

1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

Kenya

Tanzania Uganda

U.S. dollars (millions)

SOURCE: U.S. Exports of Merchandise and U.S. Imports of 

Merchandise, U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, 

Suitland, MD, 1998-2008.

Figure 3: Dollar Value of U.S. Trade with 

Rwanda and Burundi, 1997-2007

1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Rwanda

Burundi

U.S. dollars (millions)

SOURCE: U.S. Exports of Merchandise and U.S. Imports of 

Merchandise, U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, 

Suitland, MD, 1998-2008.

Figure 4: Dollar Value of U.S.-East Africa 

Trade by Vessel and Region, 1997 and 2007

Northeast

Great Lakes

Southeast

Gulf Coast

Southwest

West Coast

Central

0

50

100

150

200

250

1997

2007

U.S. dollars (millions)

SOURCE: U.S. Exports of Merchandise and U.S. Imports of 

Merchandise, U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, 

Suitland, MD, 1998 and 2008.
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Box A: Region Defi nitions Used in this Report

For the purposes of this report, each region consists of 

the following port districts:

Northeast: Portland, Maine; St. Albans, Vermont; 

Boston, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; 

New York City, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 

Baltimore, Maryland; and Washington, D.C.

Southeast: Norfolk, Virginia; Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; 

Miami, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Charlotte 

Amalie, Virgin Islands

Great Lakes: Ogdensburg, New York; Buffalo, New 

York; Duluth, Minnesota; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; and Cleveland, Ohio

Gulf Coast: Tampa, Florida; Mobile, Alabama; New 

Orleans, Louisiana; Port Arthur, Texas; and Houston/

Galveston, Texas

Southwest: Laredo, Texas; El Paso, Texas; Nogales, 

Arizona; and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Pacifi c: Honolulu, Hawaii; San Diego, California; Los 

Angeles, California; San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; and Anchorage, 

Alaska

Central: Great Falls, Montana; Pembina, North Dakota; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and St. Louis, Missouri

SOURCE: Regions are as defi ned by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Growth in Air Transport Trade by U.S. Region

In 2007, the United States exported $226 million of goods to 

East Africa by air. This was over four times greater than the 

$55 million of goods that the United States imported from 

those fi ve nations. In both 1997 and 2007, the Northeast 

had more than twice the trade by air with East Africa compared to any other U.S. region (fi gure 5). In 2007, airports 

run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey accounted for $100 million of U.S. trade with East Africa by air. 

The U.S. Gulf Coast had a 1,153 percent increase in 

air transport trade with East Africa. This was in part the 

result of a large increase in the shipment of aircraft parts 

from the Houston District as well as an increase in export 

shipments out of the New Orleans District, which includes 

Memphis, Tennessee, where a major FedEx hub is located. 

Container Transport at Major East African Ports

The two major ports in East Africa are Mombasa, Kenya, 

and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. The Port of Mombasa 

serves Kenya as well as the following neighboring countries: Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.1

 In 2006, total trade with all countries 

handled at the Port of Mombasa was 479,335 TEUs2, a 9.8 

percent increase over 2005.3 In terms of TEUs handled, 

the Port of Mombasa ranked 142 in the world in 2006 (out 

of over 2,800 commercial ports). 

With 352,548 TEUs handled in 2006, the Port of Dar Es 

Salaam ranked 174th in the world.3 Dar Es Salaam saw 

a 15.3 percent growth in the number of TEUs handled 

between 2005 and 2006. 

Commodity Trends – U.S. Trade

U.S. Exports

The top commodity by dollar value (31 percent) exported 

by the United States to East Africa in 2007 was aircraft 

and aircraft parts (table 1). This commodity was also the 

leading commodity exported to Kenya, accounting for 92 

percent ($263 million) of all aircraft and parts exported to 

East Africa. Aircraft and aircraft parts were also important 

1

 Maritime Section, Kenya Ministry of Transport web site, http://www.

transport.go.ke/

2

 TEU: Twenty-foot equivalent unit

3

 Lloyd’s MIU, Containerization International Yearbook 2008, MPG 

Impressions, Great Britain, 2008.

Figure 5: Dollar Value of U.S.-East Africa 

Trade by Air and Region, 1997 and 2007

Northeast

Great Lakes

Southeast

Gulf Coast

Southwest

West Coast

Central

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

1997

2007

U.S. dollars (millions)

SOURCE: U.S. Exports of Merchandise and U.S. Imports of 

Merchandise, U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, 

Suitland, MD, 1998 and 2008.
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exports to Tanzania, making up the fourth largest commodity by value exported to that country. Mechanical appliances ranked as the top commodity exported to Tanzania 

and Uganda in 2007, and the second largest commodity 

exported to all fi ve East African nations. 

U.S. Imports

In terms of value, articles of clothing accounted for 61 

percent of the merchandise imported by the United States 

from East Africa (table 2) in 2007. Articles of clothing accounted for 76 percent of imports from Kenya. Vessels 

transported 93 percent of U.S. imports of Kenyan clothing. 

Coffee, tea, and spices was another major import group, 

accounting for 16 percent of the value of total imports to 

the United States from East Africa. Vessels transported 

94 percent of these coffee, tea, and spice imports. Most of 

these imports were coffee ($55 million), followed by tea ($5 

million), and vanilla beans ($4 million). Coffee, tea, and 

spices was the leading commodity group imported from 

four of the fi ve East African countries: Burundi, Rwanda, 

Tanzania, and Uganda.

Table 1: Top 5 Commodities Exported from the United States to East 

Africa, 1997 v. 2007

Commodity 1997 total trade 2007 total trade Percent change

Aircraft and aircraft parts 94,452,747 262,974,466 178

Mechanical appliances 55,103,933 138,418,952 151

Electrical machinery 18,635,554 79,071,504 324

Cereals 31,254,842 45,968,993 47

Milling industry products 25,792,646 31,831,462 23

 Top fi ve commodities 225,239,722 558,265,377 148

Other 136,122,432 303,268,011 123

 Total 361,362,154 861,533,388 138

SOURCE: U.S. International Trade Commission Interactive Tariff and Trade Data Web, http://dataweb.

usitc.gov/ as of as of January 2009.

Table 2: Top 5 Commodities Imported to the United States from East Africa, 

1997 v. 2007

Commodity 1997 total trade 2007 total trade Percent change

Clothing, not knitted or crocheted 37,428,316 166,925,233 346

Clothing, knitted or crocheted 912,342 85,197,211 9,238

Coffee, tea and species 84,328,019 64,270,419 -24

Fruits and nuts 4,467,789 13,834,595 210

Pearls and precious stones 11,255,898 12,664,211 13

 Top fi ve commodities 138,392,364 342,891,669 148

Other 57,542,231 69,251,419 20

 Total 195,934,595 412,143,088 110

SOURCE: United States International Trade Commission Interactive Tariff and Trade Data Web, http://dataweb.

usitc.gov/ as of as of January 2009.
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Box B: U.S.-East Africa Transportation and Trade Highlights:

• Maritime vessels carry 57 percent of all U.S.-East Africa trade, 

with 22 percent going by air.

• Trade by Air is growing at a slightly faster rate (9.3 percent 

annually) compared to Maritime (7.8 percent).

• The United States has a trade surplus with the fi ve East Africa 

nations: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.

• Kenya is the largest U.S. trading partner in East Africa.

• The Northeast is the leading U.S. region for both air and water ports 

of entry and exit in trade with East Africa.

• The major U.S. export is aircraft parts and the leading U.S. imports 

are clothing and coffee.

About this report For related BTS data and publications: www.bts.gov

Steven Beningo, International Transportation 

Specialist of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics 

prepared this article. Zhi Liu of Macrosys provided 

special assistance in creating the map. BTS is a 

component of the Department of Transportation’s 

Research and Innovative Technology Administration.

This Special Report utilizes data from the United 

States International Trade Commission Interactive 

Tariff and Trade Data Web, http://dataweb.usitc.gov/ 

and the Census Bureau’s U.S. Exports of Merchandise and U.S. Imports of Merchandise.

For questions about this or other BTS reports, call 

1-800-853-1351, email answers@bts.gov or visit 

www.bts.gov.